Te Ture Whenua Timeline Wrong

The Minister of Maori Development is being disingenuous about the consultation period for Te Ture Whenua Maori Bill, says Labour’s Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Meka Whaitiri.

“The Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell is publicly saying iwi Maori have been consulted for 17 years but that’s just insincere and deceptive.

“The first draft was publicly released in May 2015 so by my calculations that’s less than one year.

“The Minister of Maori Development is massaging the figures to make it look like iwi Maori have been at the consultation table for nearly two decades when the fact is the first draft was only issued to the public last year.

“Clearly the poorly executed consultation period has failed iwi Maori and our people deserve accurate and better accountability from the Minister of Maori Development,” says Meka Whaitiri.